Ken Tucker

Why would HBO, cable's most innovative network ... think it's a good idea to let Bill Maher bring the skeleton of his canceled ABC show, 'Politically Incorrect,' and stuff it into the tattered corpse of 'Dennis Miller Live'?

Nancy Franklin

There's also more of Maher in the new show, and it's no big surprise that more Maher is less. He's a jerk of the old school, full of unexamined anxiety and arrogance, with a habit of using sexual stereotypes from half a century ago both to put down and to compliment people. [17 Mar 2003, p.152]

Michael Speier

But as for the overall approach, it's hard to nick any latenighter that actually tries to say something and doesn't have a sidekick or a bandleader. From the Twin Tower reconstruction efforts to duct tape mania to his ceremonial kick in the ass after ABC dumped him, Maher alone is ready to take on the universe, and that's a gutsier fight than most.